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31 October 2012

I tried to recreate a rotting flesh look. It looks grand in the pictures but it didn't really do it for me in real life. I think I should have gone with a deeper red. No harm!
This is another fairly simple manicure to do. It's pretty much the acid wash jeans look that was going around a few months ago. All you do is layer two different polishes over each other, get a cotton bud and dip it in nail polish remover and drag it over the manicure when it has dried. I highly recommend using acetone remover. Non-acetone didn't really take anything off so I had to really push down on it. Hence the crappy end result :P It was a nightmare to be fair. It looked great in my head but on my nails it just didn't translate well enough.

Here I have on 2 coats of Catrice Caught on the red carpet. This is a gorgeous blood red jelly. It was actually one of my Catrice polishes too! On top of that I have 2 coats of Illamasqua monogamous. A gorgeous nude creme with a matte finish. After I did the cotton bud technique I put on a layer of Essence quick dry topcoat. It's not great now but I think a topcoat saved this manicure a bit :P
If you are going to try this I really suggest A) using an opaque polish. Both Catrice and illamasqua worked well for me and B) using a quick drying polish. You don't want to be waiting around for ages for this to dry when you are going over it with acetone later on.

So that was my Rotting flesh manicure. I'm not a huge fan of Halloween manicure's so I'm glad it's only on for one day :) Christmas manicure's are way more fun!

30 October 2012

So I tried to do some Halloween nail art but it was all pretty much a fail. I managed to get some decent ones though....

This didn't really turn out well but it was grand for a first attempt! The pink polish I used for the web was a bit too watery so it just went everywhere. Yeh I know "A bad carpenter always blames his tools" but I swear it was actually really hard to work with. By the time I got to the third nail I gave up. It couldn't be salvaged :P

I have on a basecoat of Stargazer 129.I needed 2 coats with this polish. It's just a normal black creme. I've had it for years though so it's gone a bit gloopy now. They don't sell them here anymore but they cost €3.50 in New look many moons ago. It's a great brand though so if you can get your hands on them definitely pick up a few! The pink was done using a nail art pen by Nail Candy in pink (it doesn't have a proper name) This was given to me by the amazing Audrey from The Nail Affair who hasn't posted in a while but she is currently doing up her blog and has azquired some amazing nail polishes to show ye :)

Next time I would probably do the design with a nail art brush or a striping brush. It's just easier to get a straight line compared to using a nail art pen. I'm used to brushes though so always try out both techniques to find one that suits you personally. It is an easy design if you have the right tools though so give it a go. Sure what's the worst that could happen? ;)

29 October 2012

Essie A stroke of brilliance is my first Essie polish. It was sent to me by the Lovely Kaki from GlitterObsession. Essie are fairly dear so it's not a brand that I can run out and stock up on which is a shame because I really love this polish. It's an unusual glitter. It lies a bit flat and doesn't really sparkle in the sun at all. I like it a lot though! I have used this about 3 times already which is a lot for me. I like glitter but I rarely use it on a day to day basis. This makes an amazing accent nail too. This would need a fair load of coats to be opaque so you'll be better off just layering it :) It works with pretty much every polish anyway so it's a great little versatile glitter.

I have one coat over Catrice Sold out forever (new version). I wore this a while back with an accent nail and I loved the combination. The two blues just go really well together. A stroke of brilliance dries really quickly which is handy. I think this would look great teamed with a holographic polish but I don't have one so I can't test that out yet.
I wish essie were a bit cheaper. At the moment each one costs €13 in boots which is ridiculous. I know you can get them in TK Maxx but I only ever like one colour so it works out at the same price. A stroke of brilliance is pretty cool though so definitely check it out if ye get the chance.

26 October 2012

Don't worry there will be no feet featured in this post :P See this is why I need a baby. Everyone likes baby feet pictures because they are sooo teeny tiny and soft and sweet and adorable and.....Ahem....back to the post ;) Today I have a review of the Pedi-Sox!

The original Pedi-Sox is just a plain white toe-less sock with a purple rim.
They are lovely and thick so they keep your feet nice and warm and you can paint your toes without smudging them. Given the fact that they are white I would keep these for bedtime and smother my feet with cream so they are all soft and moisturized in the morning. I spend a lot of time on my feet so these are really handy for keeping them in good shape. I would personally prefer a darker colour (I'm sure everyone's mammy has it beat into them not to wear white socks around the house!) They are great for Spa's nail salons though especially during the colder months.
This particular style comes with a Black, Blue, pink ,Red, purple, silver or gold trim. They also come in either black or pink stripes (on the right)

The ultra pedi-sox are a bit thinner than the orginals. Perfect for summer of just rally warm nights. I love the heart design, it's adorable! The material is really soft and so comfortable to wear. I'm glad they are machine washable (weird plus but it's handy!)

The pedi-sox feel well made and they are really comfortable. The designs are really sweet and make wearing them just a little bit nicer :) They keep your tootsies warm and you don't have to worry about smudging your nail polish or ruining your socks. I think they are an essential part of my pedicure process now. I honestly wouldn't be without them! You can check their site for a list of distributors.

24 October 2012

Barry M retro purple has the same metallic like finish as the retro pink polish HERE. Again it was part of the Retro release to celebrate Barry M's 30th birthday. It's not a polish I would gravitate too but CeeCee aka NurseFancyPants asked for a swatch so I said I might as well give it a go :)

The only way I could get it to show up properly was at night so excuse the lobster hands. The colour is spot on though! Retro purple is known as Tainted love on the website. I wish they would have printed these names on thee bottle. They are far more fun than just "purple" or a number. Either way this is actually a gorgeous purple. I hate purple polish ( I know I have a fair few) because it never looks right on me. I honestly buy them after looking at swatches and I am always disappointed with the way it looks on me.
During the day this actually looks quite nice on but at night it just sparkles and looks stunning! I think the metallic-esque finish catches the light beautifully. The pictures show is perfectly. A great polish for wearing out at night especially for a special occasion It's a very classy polish. I have to admit I do prefer the pink polish. I like the fact that they all seem to have the same finish and the bottles are quiet nice. Great idea to use a retro bottle to celebrate their birthday! Plus these bottles are far easier to get a hold of for pictures than their usual ones :P That's obviously why they decided to use them ;)

Formula was pretty great on Tainted love. It was thin but not watery. You can easily get it opaque in 2 coats. I would recommend giving it ample time to dry in-between coats. I have a streak on one finger where I loaded the polish on a bit too soon after the first coat. Not noticeable unless you have it up really close though so it's not a problem. I would really recommend a topcoat with this though! I was cleaning up the side of one nail with my fingernail (as you do) and it chipped a little without much force at all. It reminds me a lot of Catrice Heavy Metalilac. They are not dupes but they have the same kind of finish and look to them. Again if you like purple then I really think you will love this. I got a few compliments on this even though I only had it on for about 3 hours (Stupid thing kept coming up blue in my pictures!)

Price wise these are so affordable! You can't buy them in the shops but they are available on the Barry M website. Each bottle costs £1.99 for 10ml which is brilliant, especially for the quality of these polishes.

22 October 2012

Today I have China Glaze Kalahari kiss. It's not one that would normally catch my eye but I ended up loving this polish.

I had this on my nails for the last week. For the first three days I really wasn't loving it. I was threatening to put a glitter topper over it but I kept putting it off. I'm really glad I did because it is such a gorgeous colour.I have fairly pale skin so Kalahari kiss does stand out a bit on my hand. It doesn't make me look ill or anything so it's grand :) I have to say I think this will look amazing on darker skin tones. Kalahari kiss is from the China Glaze on Safari collection. I only really wanted this and Exotic Encounters. The glitters didn't appeal to me but everyone else went mental for them. Oh and if you can see little lumps on my nails it is from my basecoat. It's running low so the formula is going awful weird :(

Kalahari kiss was fairly easy to apply. 2 coats for full coverage and I topped it off with a coat of Seche Vite to keep it nice and glossy. I got a full week out of this with no tip-wear and only 2 small chips to the side of my nail (I was picking at them-my bad) It is more of a camel coloured creme. I think this is a great polish to have for keeping your nails nice and simple but without going too plain and boring with a nude. It'll make a more interesting interview manicure too! I bought this from the Beauty Emporium for €7.50 when the free shipping deal was going on. Well worth it I think. I'm sure I'll use it again and again. Kalahari kiss is a polish you will reach for when you cannot pick a polish to wear! That's how I ended up wearing it and loving it.

I haven't been wowed by a lot of the new China Glaze or Opi polishes lately. I really love the 2 I have from the On Safari collection though.

China Glaze holly day is a dark green creme. It's from their Let it Snow colllection. I have been after this polish for ages but I always put it off. After doing a presentation the last day I thought I might as well buy it to celebrate :P Yep, that is how I justify buying nail polish :D Ebay €5.20

My basecoat is almost gone and the fomula has gone to shit to be honest. I still don't want to waste a load of money on a basecoat that won't last long so I picked up another Essence one. I hope this is decent! €2.49 in penny's.

I have a stargaer black polish but it is sooooo gloopy now. I know I'll need black polish for Halloween so I went for Essence Black is Back. Nice and cheap but 100% reliable. Penny's €1.79

Another blogger made me go out and buy this because of her combination. NurseFancyPants I hope you are ashamed of yourself :P Essence English Rose is actually gorgeous on it's own. A bit darker on the nail than in the picture (a good thing trust me) Again from Penny's for €1.79

Last but not least is Catrice Genius in a bottle. I know everyone wants it because it's another Chanel Peridot dupe. I could care less to be honest. It's a gorgeous polish in it's own right. Really classy and more grown up than a lot of the polish I wear. I really like this one :) Penny's for €2.79

19 October 2012

TGIF! So you all know that Catrice have a habit of re-using the names of their polishes over and over and over again (I'm not even exaggerating there!) Sold out forever has been released 3 times already. Seriously. That annoys me a fair bit because I bought this thinking it was the original discontinued one. Today I have Sold out forever version 2.

Sold out forever is a pastel blue creme with a tiny but of blue shimmer running through it. I hated it when I bought it. Capital H hate it. I think it was more the disappointment because I genuinely thought this was the original that I had missed out on by one week (my shop got rid of their stock really quickly for some reason) I was raging and threw this into my stash and it stayed there for a while :P Also it looked weird on my long nails so that didn't really help. On short nails I think this polish is amazing! I love the colour even on my pale skin it looks great. I used this for a manicure as a last resort with another polish and it just looked perfect to me. This looks amazing with a topper (I have that post coming up soon!) It looks more white than blue so it does stand out on your nails. I like that though. It catches your eye more often during the day.

I have on 3 coats of sold out forever and no topcoat. It's really glossy on its own but a topcoat is always a good idea. I wasn't going to be wearing this for long so it seemed like a bit of a waste ;) The formula was grand like it went on fairly smoothly. I needed three coats because I didn't let it dry and it dragged a little.
My hands look super shiney in these pictures and I have no idea why! They'd nearly blind you!
Anyway....Catrice are fairly reliable. I rarely suffer from premature chipping (haha) so Catrice are always worth a look. Especially for €2,79 ;) I hope they bring out some new stuff soon! The new essence polishes are a tad disappointing so I need some goodies to keep me occupied.

17 October 2012

Today's topic is cuticle oils. I think they are awful handy but it is really hard to find one that A) works! and B) doesn't cost an arm and a leg to buy. I have a few products that I use to keep me looking half decent so I thought I'd do a little post on them. I've already mentioned the Pixy Aloe rescue gel so today I'll be talking about the Cutie-cle oil by Never Naked Nails.

The oil itself is made up of Avocado oil, grape seed oil, apricot kernel oil, sweet almond oil and olive squalene oil. They all sound pretty good to me and they work really well on my cuticle. I have really dry cuticles that always end up being bitten, torn and picked at until there is nothing left. Yeh it's nasty but that's what happens! I love the fact that this is a roller ball. It's realy easy to apply and the oil doesn't spill everywhere. There isn't a smell which is good and it sinks in really quickly. One quick swipe and you have the right amount of oil to soften your cuticles without leaving them greasy.

15 October 2012

Barry M released these Retro polish bottles to celebrate their 30th birthday a while back. I was dying to get the blue polish but they didn't have them in my shop. Thankfully you can get them on the Barry website now so I might have to buy the rest of this set.

Barry m retro pink (or Hot pink sunshine as it says on the website) is a gorgeous deep pink with a metallic finish on them. Honestly, I only put this on so I could move it from my untried section :P Turns out it is amazing and now one of my favourite polishes ever. Who saw that one coming? not me! Pink is just a bit tooooo girly for me. I feel like a bit of a fraud wearing it ( Weird I know but it just doesn't feel right!) I think the metallic finish really made a difference. The polish really pops on the nails and it constantly catches your eye throughout the day. It's a little deeper in real life and far more gorgeous that my pictures show. There are 5 other polishes on the website but I could have sworn there was a dark and a light blue in it aswell. Maybe I was dreaming or spaced out or something....

I have on two coats of Barry m retro pink. I topped it off with a coat of Seche vite. Application was perfect. It glided on and I had minimal clean up to do afterwards. The brush is thin so it pretty much suits every nail shape. I wish it had more of a curve at the bristles instead of a square top though. I always find it hard to get a nice curve around my cuticles with square headed brushes. Other than that I have no complaints. It dries really quickly and lasted a whole week without chips or tip wear There is a gorgeous shimmer mixed in with the pink that really sparkles when you catch it in the right light. I wish it was easier to capture on camera! Everyone should check this out.

The Barry m retro paints cost £2 on the Barry m site. I am going to get the blue (electric dreams) and the red (lady in red) soon. They look stunning, especially the red and they have the same metallic like finish. Gorgeous!

Have any of the retro polishes caught your eye? I have the coral and the purple too so if ye would like to see them swatched let me know.

12 October 2012

Seeing as we have skipped the Autumn and gone straight into winter I thought it was about time I did another skincare review for ye. This is a collective post of Purity organic skincare. This is a UK based skincare brand whose products are free from parabens, GM and petroleum derived ingrediants, silicones, sis and synthetic fragrances. Phew that is some list! I have 6 products in total so ye may need a drop of tea before ye get your teeth into this :P

The regenerating overnight moisturiser smells a bit weird, kind of like plastic. It's not overly off putting but I'd sooner there was no scent at all. Now I have Oily/combination skin and this did not sit well with me at all. It felt like it didn't sink in at all and left a greasy film on my skin. I tried it on a person with normal skin and it seemed to sink in ok on them but it didn't give overly moisturised skin so this was a bit of a miss. You get 50ml (1.7 fl.oz) for £7.99.

The anti-aging moisturiser has the same effect for me. It doesn't really leave my skin feeling soft and supple. I don't like the greasy feel. It might be more suited to use on really dry areas like on my elbows or something. It also has the same plastic smell and I couldn't stand having that on my face all day!
50ml (1.7 fl.oz) is £7.99

The facial exfoliator was ok. There wasn't a detectable smell on this which I really preferred. The cocnut shell was really jam packed in the tube which is great! I hate having to squirt out a load of product to get a decent amount of beads.It doesn't feel harsh at all so it really is great for sensitive skin. I do like the ingrediants- a mix of coconut oil, sweet almond oil and aloe vera. It's nice but it's nothing special for me. It might work as a nice foot scrub though!
100ml (3.38 fl.oz) for £5.99

I quite like the facial wash. I use it when I get home to wash off the dirt that has built up during the day. It leaves my skin clean and it's far better for my skin than the previous face wash that I had to use. It lathers well although it does smell a bit like clearasil which is odd!
150ml (5.1 fl.oz) is £4.99

Every once in a while I use a mask so I was happy to see the Anti-aging serum and mask. It was nice enough to use but I didn't see and overall change in the softness of skin. Again it had an unusual smell and the texture is very jelly. It was easy to apply though so it's not a huge problem.
50 ml (1.7 fl.oz) is £8.99

Lastly is the conditioning cleansing lotion. I really liked this. It left my skin nice and soft. I like the way you can wash it off with water or cotton wool. It goes a long way. The smell is grand on it too. This is one I would consider getting again when this bottle runs out!
150ml (5.1 fl.oz) is £4.99

The products are all vegetarian friendly which is a huge plus in my books. I wish the products were available for oily/ combination skin so they could actually work for my skin but if you have sensitive skin then it might be worth checking out on their website for more information.

11 October 2012

I'm not one to post a load of press releases and I hate twilight but this is pretty special! Essence are releasing another LE set with Twilight for the new film. These are scheduled for release from November- December. Thankfully there are only 4 polishes in this collection so they should be fairly handy to pick up.

(3) Essence Breaking Dawn A piece of forever

(2) Essence Breaking Dawn Alice had a vision-Again

A piece of forever is described as a "shiny Gold". Alice had a vision-Again is a " dark and dramatic purple"

(1) Essence Breaking Dawn Jacob's Protection

(4) Essence Breaking Dawn Edward's love

Jacob's protection is a "mystical night blue" While Edward's love is a "seductive black"

I really like the look of these. Not even the fact that they are twilight based and have awful stupid names will put me off. I hope to pick up "Edward's love" (black with glitter I think), "Jacob's protection"(blue) and "a piece of forever" (gold). I'm not a fan of purple but if the swatches look good then I'd consider getting that too. On promo pictures alone it's not something I would gravitate towards. Each polish will cost €2.49 so they are a bit cheaper than Catrice but a bit more expensive than regular Essence :P

Now ye all know i am fairly fond of hand creams and hand sanitizers or hand gel (whatever you call them) so I thought I'd do a hand gel comparison for ye today! Believe it or not, there are actually really different from each other in terms of price and quality so I think it's important to test them out and find the best one for you.

I used to always just buy the cheapest hand gel I could find. As long as it was a big tube and it was cheap I would get it! I didn't even know if they were cruelty free or not. It didn't really bother me at the time. The Cuticura hand gel is actually the first hand gel I bought. I got it 2 years ago for college and it has lasted me a fair while. In the bottle you really get the citrus scent which I like. It's really refreshing and leaves your hands feeling clean but sticky which is annoying. When you rub this into your hands all you get is the smell of alcohol and it is STRONG! People would turn around and look at me when I used this thinking I was an alcoholic just having a naggin halfway through a lecture. You can pick these up for around €2-3 for 100ml

The body shop sweet lemon hand gel doesn't have the overpowering scent and smells a lot more citrus like. The bottle is far nicer too. It looks nice and neat and I prefer the clear gel. The Body shop are cruelty-free which makes me more inclined to shop with them. They are a bit more expensive at €4.50 for 60ml but I think the quality is far better and it leaves my hands really clean and fresh.

On the left is Cuticura citrus gel and the right the body shop sweet lemon gel. The Cuticura is really watery and you always end up with too much on your hand. It leaves your hand a bit sticky too. The formula on the body shop gel was more gel like and a little went a long way without leaving a sticky feeling.

All in all I would go for the Body shop hand gel in future. It's cruelty free and it just has a great formula. You can get a whole load of different scents too which I like. I still have about a quarter of my Body shop gel left. I'm thinking of trying the soap and glory one next or just getting a different scent in the Body shop range. Life changing decision right there :P I really want to try the american Bath and body works ones. All the American people in my module have them and they look adorable (the hand gel....not the Americans....)

10 October 2012

Aside from nail polish (obviously) lip-balm is my next obsession! You can wear it where ever, whenever and however you want. I have woeful lips pretty much all year round so I have to have lip-balm in my bag or else they are cracked and peeling which leads to picking (yup I'm a picker, You should see the skin around my nails. I'm surprised there isn't some bone showing yet it's that bad )

Anything with mango in it catches my eye so I was delighted to be able to try out this lipbalm by Maganda.
I love the little tub it comes in, I rarely use up a lip-balm (maybe 2 so far?) so it's nice to be able to get small pots to test them out. Plus is means you don't get sick of the scent.

The lip-balm goes on smoothly and stays on for a good amount of time. The mango smell is really pleasant! I love fruity scented lip-balms I've used it a fair bit so you can see a huge dent has gone from the jar. The one flaw with this lip-balm is if you rub your finger onto your pants/t shirt/jumper afterwards to get rid of the excess balm it leaves an oily sheen to your clothes. It washes off but just keep it in mind if you are going out in your Sunday best :P

You can but a set of 3 small tubs for £3 on the Maganda website. They have a fair lot of unusual flavours so definitely check them out if you are bored of the same old lip-balms flavours :)

09 October 2012

I have a fair few swatches stashed aside from reviews so I think it's time to start popping them up now and again so I can post my weekly manicure the week I wear it instead of 3 months later :P Nails inc York Street was used as a base for Smitten Polish Aquarius when I swatched that back in July!

I'm not a big fan of the Nails inc formula. I think for such an dear brand the formula should be spot on. It's not. It's crap. I do have a soft spot for their colours though but I'd sooner buy them in Tk maxx where you can get them for half nothing. Nails inc York Street is a mini that came out as part of the iconic mini's collection. That is actually quite a cute collection. I love the polishes that are in it but I probably wouldn't buy them full size. Sure the mini will last ages anyway. Now this collection is no longer available on the nails inc website but you might be able to pick one up on ebay or amazon or some place like that. The colours are fairly standard anyway so don't lose any sleep if you can't find this exact one.

The formula on this wasn't too bad but I knew I would be covering it with another polish so I didn't mind hte odd streak. Even with that in mind York street need at least 2 coats and possibly 3 on some troublesome nails. Even looking at it now if I was to wear this on its own I would need a forth coat for sure. the brush is a bit crap on the mini bottles. It took me a fair few strokes to paint my nails (yes they are long but still! it was awful annoying) I really like the colour though. It's a gorgeous light blue creme. It's a lot like Barry m blueberry but not as bright. I like it. I don't love it but it's a nice colour and I'd wear it. I'd probably putting a nice glitter topper on it though :P

It's so strange to see my nails so long. It feels like I've had them short for years! It's easier to keep them short although I miss them being long :( anyway I have to go and actually do some real work and more importantly pick out a nail polish to wear this week! Quiet the arduous task. I find myself trying to pick one in my mind before I go to sleep now. It's getting serious haha.